How Long Does It Take To Sell A House?

By Mark Spain Real Estate

If you’re in the early stages of selling your home, you may anticipate your home-selling timeline. While each listing comes with unique circumstances, the steps required to sell a house are pretty straightforward for homes across the board.

At Mark Spain Real Estate, our Expert Listing Consultants offer exclusive market insight on the home-selling process. By working with our team of experienced real estate professionals, you can prepare for the stages of selling a house and gauge a solid selling timeline for your listing. If you are taking the first steps toward listing your home and are wondering how long it will take, read our guide on the steps you can expect to take when selling a house. 

How Long Does It Take To Sell A House

Listing Your Home

Your home-selling timeline begins when you list your home. However, to reach the point of actually putting your home on the market, you must go through several preparational steps to set your listing up for success. From hiring a realtor and setting an asking price to deep cleaning your home and getting it ready for showings, sellers and their agents need a lot of time and effort to prepare a home for listing. The pre-listing process will look different for every seller as it depends on a home’s individual needs regarding renovations, cleaning, home staging, and more.

Once everything is in order, and you are ready to launch your listing, you should anticipate at least a day for the listing to go live and start generating interest. Then, you’ll begin scheduling showings for potential buyers to view your property and discover if they could envision themselves in your home. Whether you host private showings or an open house, expect the showing process to last a few days before receiving any offers. 

Negotiating and Accepting Offers

After hosting successful home showings, you’ll likely begin receiving offers on your house. Whether you receive a single offer or multiple, deciding to accept an offer can take some time based on various factors. If you receive an offer lower than you were hoping for, you may negotiate with the buyer for a better deal. However, if you receive your dream offer right off the bat, you can skip the negotiation process and move on to the next step in the selling process. 

One way to save time and avoid lengthy offer negotiations is to set a fair listing price. Before setting your expectations for offers, allow your real estate agent to assess your home’s market value. At Mark Spain Real Estate, our experts use comparative market analysis to accurately price your home and maximize your pool of prospective buyers. With a thorough market assessment, you can set a viable listing price upon starting the selling process and prevent a lengthy timeline of back-and-forth offer negotiations. 

Appraisal and Inspection

Once you’ve accepted an offer, you may assume the rest of the selling process will fly by. However, this isn’t always the case when dealing with home appraisals and inspections. Home appraisals ensure that the buyer and their mortgage lender are on the same page about loans.

Throughout the appraisal process, a real estate appraiser will evaluate your home and determine its fair market value to ensure the buyer is paying a reasonable price. Often, buyers will include an appraisal contingency in their sales contract, allowing them to walk away from the purchase if the appraisal does not match the agreed-upon price. The home appraisal process can take anywhere from several weeks to a few days, depending on the type of appraisal ordered by the lender and state laws.

In addition to a home appraisal, buyers will arrange a home inspection to screen the home for any significant health, safety, or mechanical issues. Throughout the process, an inspector might test electrical outlets, assess the roof’s sturdiness, and test the home’s HVAC system.

If the inspector discovers significant structural problems, there’s a chance your buyer may walk away from the deal. For this reason, it’s best to make any necessary repairs or upgrades before you sell a house, as this will save time later in the inspection process and mitigate the risk of your deal falling through. 

Final Negotiations

Upon completing the appraisal and inspection process, you will likely have some final negotiations to sort through with your buyer. Buyers often have contingencies in their sales contract that must be met before closing. Some common real estate contingencies may include home inspections, mortgages, appraisals, and title contingencies. The time spent on final negotiations will depend on the contract but anticipate a few days to sort through final arrangements and tie up any loose ends. 

Closing Process

Starting the closing process means you’re about to cross the finish line in your journey to sell a house! During this stage, you will sign the house to its new rightful owners after reviewing and signing a series of closing documents. As for your buyer, they will exchange financing documents and title insurance policies, finalize their payments, and gain ownership titles. From there, all you need to do is make sure you’re ready to move by the final closing date and gather up any keys, door codes, and garage door openers for your home’s new tenants. 

Sell A House With Mark Spain Real Estate

Are you trying to sell a house? The experts at Mark Spain Real Estate are here to help streamline your home sale. With exclusive industry insight, our team of trusted agents can help you sell a home in some of the biggest markets in the southeast, including Atlanta, Dallas, Raleigh, and more! Check out our Guaranteed Offer Program to receive a competitive cash offer on your home in only 21 days. Contact our agents today!

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